In 2002, veteran Capcom game director Hideaki Itsuno – then working on a pitch for an original action-RPG that later turned into Dragon's Dogma – was called upon to get an ailing Devil May Cry 2 out of the door. It sold decently, in the end, but was widely regarded as a critical flop. "When it finished up, they all realised they could have done better," explains Devil May Cry producer Matt Walker (and Itsuno's translator for this interview). "So he and others at Capcom said, we're going to take all of our collective knowledge on how to make a good fighting game, a good action game, and put everything we can into making Devil May Cry 3. "And if this isn't received well, if this doesn't sell well, that's it. We'll just have to quit Capcom, and do something else." For the person helming one of the most outrageously hyperactive action game series out there, Itsuno is rather reserved in person. But his passion for action games is intense. Devil May Cry 3 was a massive success, and this year's Devil May Cry 5 has been celebrated as a return to form for the whole genre. "We didn't look at other action games for DMC5," Itsuno explains, "though one thing we did do was look at Monster Hunter World, which was a massive effort for Capcom – it made a lot of improvements to make it easier for people to get into." Instead, he says, they focused on what was great about Devil May Cry in the first place. "What makes action games fun hasn't changed in 30 years," explains Itsuno. "You come up against a challenge, and maybe you don't beat it the first time, but you know what you did wrong.

Devil May Cry 5 is due to land on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC on March 8th, 2019, Capcom announced today during the special Gamescom edition of the Inside Xbox livestream. Devil May Cry 5 is the sequel to Devil May Cry 4, which came out in 2008, and it marks the return of series shepherd Hideaki Itsuno as director. Ninja Theory briefly took over the franchise with DmC: Devil May Cry in 2013, and while Devil May Cry 5 takes some styling tips from that game, it doesn't follow its storyline directly. Devil May Cry 5 picks up where Devil May Cry 4 left off, and it stars three playable characters: Dante, Nero and an unknown protagonist in a long black trench vest. Nero historically has a demon-powered arm called Devil Bringer, and it's ripped from his body at the beginning of Devil May Cry 5. It's replaced by a series of robotic arms (called Devil Breakers) created by Nero's partner in demon-fighting crime, Nico.